New member of the family

[xanis]

Went back to the shelter with the girlfriend today and saw a cute 2-month-old pit mix that was found during one of the snowstorms abandoned in an alleyway. Wound up adopting her and I just got home. We named her Leia.

Any advice for a new puppy owner? My girlfriend grew up with dogs and has worked with them in some capacity for most of her life, so she's a seasoned vet. I've never had a dog before.

Some pics:

 

[I Saw OJ]

Cute pup

 

[KeithTalent]

Super cute!

KT

 

[Gunslinger08]

Advice:
- Have fun.
- Take pictures.
- Don't get worked up. Puppies take work and they will do at least 1 moderately bad thing before they're trained.

 

[surfsatwerk]

She's a cutie.

 

[xanis]

Advice:
- Have fun.
- Take pictures.
- Don't get worked up. Puppies take work and they will do at least 1 moderately bad thing before they're trained.

I took her outside when I got home, didn't pee. Walked inside and within 30 seconds she peed in a corner.

 

[Gunslinger08]

I took her outside when I got home, didn't pee. Walked inside and within 30 seconds she peed in a corner.

Yeah, puppies will do that. If your girlfriend is agreeable, I'd recommend crate training. When you're at home and awake, the dog should be out of the crate and you should be watching it. You should take it outside very frequently (2-3 times an hour), especially after meal time/drinking. When you're asleep or away, the dog goes into the crate. When you wake up/get home, immediately let the dog out of the crate and lead it outside. With some perseverance, the dog will be house trained in a couple of weeks and you won't have to deal with torn up things or messes when you're not watching. After a year or two, you can start leaving the crate door open when you're asleep/away. If the dog behaves fine and stops using it, get rid of it.

 

[lupi]

undo a couple buttons and send another pic.

 

[JManInPhoenix]

Nice looking pup!

 

[KeithTalent]

Yeah, puppies will do that. If your girlfriend is agreeable, I'd recommend crate training. When you're at home and awake, the dog should be out of the crate and you should be watching it. You should take it outside very frequently (2-3 times an hour), especially after meal time/drinking. When you're asleep or away, the dog goes into the crate. When you wake up/get home, immediately let the dog out of the crate and lead it outside. With some perseverance, the dog will be house trained in a couple of weeks and you won't have to deal with torn up things or messes when you're not watching. After a year or two, you can start leaving the crate door open when you're asleep/away. If the dog behaves fine and stops using it, get rid of it.

So when doing this, you just go to work, leave the puppy at home in the crate all day, and it all works out ok? You did not encounter a lot of whining or barking or anything?

KT

 

[Gunslinger08]

So when doing this, you just go to work, leave the puppy at home in the crate all day, and it all works out ok? You did not encounter a lot of whining or barking or anything?

KT

They're going to whine and bark, at least for a while. My dog whined up until the day we finally took it down, but it worked. You shouldn't leave them in the crate more than 8 hours at a time.

It works because dogs naturally don't like to pee/poop where they're sleeping. Cover most of the crate in a sheet and it can become a cozy and safe "cave" for them. A lot of dogs actually like having that space dedicated for them. Even if they don't like it, they'll learn the lesson and associate the outdoors with being OK for pee/poop and indoors as not OK.

 

[VtPC83]

2nd on the 'don't crate a puppy for more than 8 hours'

Honestly less if you can. If you can come home on lunch to let it outside for first few months is ideal but usually not realistic.

Heard something like a dog should only be made to be crated alone and 'hold it' for 1 hour for each month they are. Its a bit extreme I think.

Edit - Totally forgot, she is adorable.

 

[Gunslinger08]

2nd on the 'don't crate a puppy for more than 8 hours'

Honestly less if you can. If you can come home on lunch to let it outside for first few months is ideal but usually not realistic.

Heard something like a dog should only be made to be crated alone and 'hold it' for 1 hour for each month they are. Its a bit extreme I think.

Edit - Totally forgot, she is adorable.

Yeah, less than 8 is preferable. My wife is a teacher, so we got a dog at the beginning of summer when she could be home anytime for several months.

 

[KeithTalent]

Ok, great info, thanks. The pup I am looking at is ~5 months old currently.

Sorry for the hijack OP!

KT

 

[tcsenter]

Not to thread crap or anything but I've lost count of the number of persons I've encountered who 'had dogs their entire life' and yet seemed to have picked-up EVERY wrong approach or response or interpretation to dog's behavior. Hopefully that's not your wife's case but experience has taught me it doesn't mean much (in many cases).

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Play with the feet and clip the nails several times a week to get them used to it

 

[nickbits]

Not to thread crap or anything but I've lost count of the number of persons I've encountered who 'had dogs their entire life' and yet seemed to have picked-up EVERY wrong approach or response or interpretation to dog's behavior. Hopefully that's not your wife's case but experience has taught me it doesn't mean much (in many cases).

Having != being responsible for. My wife has had dogs her whole life but she was not responsible for their care. She did not do a very good job with the puppy we got. Took 2+ years to housebreak (granted the breed we got is stupid--pug).

 

[Kyle]

Play with the feet and clip the nails several times a week to get them used to it

Good tip - I did this w/ my puppy and now she couldn't care less if you hold her feet/spread her toes etc...also good to start feeling inside your puppies mouth/rubbing teeth etc so she's used to it- will help if you want to ever brush her teeth, or when giving pills. Also would suggest taking food away when she's eating or putting your hand in the bowl- it might help w/ possessiveness/aggression that some dogs get around food or toys. I did this quiet a bit and now there's nothing she gets aggressive about - I can take her treat/toy/food and she'll just watch.

Eh, there's tons of tips like that that I found online and read a couple books before I got my dog- I also crate trained and it worked great- she now loves her 2 crates (takes naps in them etc) and if I need to put her in a crate for a few hours she has no problem with it- goes right to sleep.

Also- if possible try to keep a really close eye on her as much as you can- last thing you want is her to eat something that gets blocked in her intestines or something - and that way you can also give immediate correction if she starts chewing on something she shouldn't, or can redirect her to something that she is allowed to chew on.

Very cute pup!

 

[who?]

http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Shoot-Dog...+shoot+the+dog

 

[KidNiki1]

They're going to whine and bark, at least for a while. My dog whined up until the day we finally took it down, but it worked. You shouldn't leave them in the crate more than 8 hours at a time.

It works because dogs naturally don't like to pee/poop where they're sleeping. Cover most of the crate in a sheet and it can become a cozy and safe "cave" for them. A lot of dogs actually like having that space dedicated for them. Even if they don't like it, they'll learn the lesson and associate the outdoors with being OK for pee/poop and indoors as not OK.

the dog I have now never whined or barked being in her crate. first dog i have ever had do that, so that was lucky. she did chew the crap out of 4 mattresses i bought for her to lay on in there though.

now she loves her crate and she sleeps there on her own at night.

 

[Markbnj]

I took her outside when I got home, didn't pee. Walked inside and within 30 seconds she peed in a corner.

I'm a fan of cage training the first few weeks. Worked out great with both of our pups. When they come out of the cage for a walk they have to go, so it's straight outside, they go, they get a treat, doesn't take long to implant.

Grats on the new friend. Dogs are awesome.

 

[pete6032]

the dog I have now never whined or barked being in her crate. first dog i have ever had do that, so that was lucky. she did chew the crap out of 4 mattresses i bought for her to lay on in there though.

now she loves her crate and she sleeps there on her own at night.

Excessive chewing is usually a sign of anxiety just FYI.

 

[KidNiki1]

Excessive chewing is usually a sign of anxiety just FYI.

It wasn't excessive. She was a puppy and liked to chew stuff.

She doesn't do it now.

 

[xanis]

She did pretty well for her first night in a new place, I think. I put some sheets/blankets in her crate and covered it with a big blanket for her, and put it in our bedroom. She whined for maybe 5 minutes, but we kept talking softly to her and she fell asleep. We also got her a little sweater which I think helped make her feel more secure.

She's been pretty mouthy (what puppy isn't? ) so we're trying to be consistent with "no" when she chews something she's not supposed to, and lots of praise when she chews on something she IS supposed to have (her toys).

 

[xanis]

Not to thread crap or anything but I've lost count of the number of persons I've encountered who 'had dogs their entire life' and yet seemed to have picked-up EVERY wrong approach or response or interpretation to dog's behavior. Hopefully that's not your wife's case but experience has taught me it doesn't mean much (in many cases).

I totally agree, a lot of people don't know WTF they're doing, even though they say they do. My girlfriend has worked in several dog kennels, and she currently works at the shelter we adopted from as a vet tech. She's been handling and training dogs for a few years now, so I'm pretty confident in her skills.